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\ ˈfes 
\
\fessed; fessing; fesses
Definition of fess
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to own up : confess —usually used with up
fess
noun\ ˈfes \
\variants:
or less commonly fesse
Definition of fess (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : a broad horizontal bar across the middle of a heraldic field
2 : the center point of an armorial escutcheon
Examples of fess in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Medved laughed, fessing up to a bit of hoops masochism.
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Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, "CSU Rams G Kris Martin warns Duke and Coach K: “We’re coming to win the game”," 6 Nov. 2019 But later in the episode, which was taped in March, Gina fessed up.
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Dave Quinn, PEOPLE.com, "Gina Kirschenheiter Admits She Slept with Her Ex-Husband Months Before Domestic Violence Charges," 29 Oct. 2019 Despite intense interrogation, Aston won't fess up.
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John Pearley Huffman, Car and Driver, "James Bond Gets a Stunt Double in No Time to Die—So Does Aston Martin's DB5," 20 Feb. 2020 If the price is outlandishly high, then the idea is never going to happen, supporters should fess up.
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Jennifer Rubin, The Denver Post, "Rubin: Harris’ health care retreat shows it never pays to follow the herd," 20 Aug. 2019 But sometimes the numbers just don’t add up, or fess up, and Game No.
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Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, "They didn’t score any goals but Bruins’ fourth liners made their presence felt in victory," 10 Jan. 2020 Instead of fessing up, Keyser tried covering it up.
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oregonlive, "Meth, bar beefs, bikini coffee beatdowns: 12 weird and wild Oregon crime stories in 2019," 26 Dec. 2019 Everyone thinks politicians are two-faced, and two prominent Republicans have jokingly 'fessed up.
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Stephen Collinson And Caitlin Hu, CNN, "This is what strongman diplomacy looks like -- Meanwhile in America," 22 Oct. 2019 Chris Wetherell fessed up to the RT button on Twitter’s being perhaps a bad idea.
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Rose Eveleth, Wired, "The Architects of Our Digital Hellscape Are Very Sorry," 28 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Not until after the game -- LSU beat South Carolina 6-4 to stay alive in the SEC Tournament -- did Peterson fess up.
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Christopher Dabe, NOLA.com, "Todd Peterson's high school coach tells truth about LSU pitcher's hitting ability," 25 May 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fess.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for fess
The first known use of fess was in the 15th century
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